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A Nod to Matisse
Presently, I have a solo exhibition showing at Lab Art Gallery in Los Angeles, "A Nod to Matisse". My intention was to pay a great homage to the Maestro. A native Spaniard myself, I was raised in...
View ArticlePete Seeger -- Character, Personality, Intuition and Focus
After 94 years, on January 27, 2014, the world lost Pete Seeger. The world is the lesser for that loss. The accolades for this giant of folk songs and herald of all causes just, are pouring in from...
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Balancing a Vision: Hubbard Street's Alejandro Cerrudo and One Thousand Pieces
Not long ago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago presented the return of Alejandro Cerrudo's full evening work One Thousand Pieces, premiered in 2012 for the company's 35th anniversary. When the work was...
View ArticleMusic I (Mostly) Hold Dear: Steve Reich
For my graduate recital at Hampshire College in 1975, I included two works of Steve Reich, Clapping Music (performed with Chris Young ,who went on to make it big in Hollywood) and Music for Pieces of...
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NCCA Kronstadt: The Flame That Burns Twice as Bright
60.021735° N / 29.847976° E January 29th 2014 3° F / -16° C Standing in a courtyard in the abandoned Zverev fortress, I am surrounded by red brick buildings. I can already see signs of the fort's...
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Deathtrap, Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage Theatre
Never judge a playwright's source material, even if it's the inadvertent aftermath of a carefully plotted murder. That's the message of Ira Levin's Deathtrap, a comedic thriller directed by Gregory...
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The Edgy Thrills of Extreme Storytelling
Although it's convenient to think of a ride on MUNI as a gift of free theatre, nothing compares to the wonders that transpire while you're asleep. Whether taking a nap or going for a full eight hours...
View ArticleRussia Today: A Short Interview with Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of...
It's hard to put into words what it's like to witness Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 in person. You're sort of crashing the party just by turning up on their set. Don't expect anything...
View ArticleRussia Today: a Short Interview With Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of...
It's hard to put into words what it's like to witness Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 in person. You're sort of crashing the party just by turning up on their set. Don't expect anything...
View ArticlePhilip Seymour Hoffman (1968-2014): So Great in the Now Ironically Titled A...
Philip Seymour Hoffman, dead of an apparent drug overdose, was one of my favorite actors. And in A Late Quartet -- and how ironic does that title seem now? -- he gave a great performance. It was a...
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What Makes a Jackson Pollock Painting Worth Millions?
In Pollock We Trust: Digital collage by Photofunia.com On November 12th of last year, Jackson Pollock's Number 16 sold for $32,645,000.00 at Christie's, New York. The 30¾ by 22¼ inch painting has a...
View ArticleThe Day I Met Philip Seymour Hoffman
In 2003 I had just transitioned from a reasonably normal job to being a professional actor. I was working every night in a comedy show on the Las Vegas Strip and auditioning for commercials and bit...
View ArticleAn Amazing Week
I have grown increasingly nervous about the future of diverse arts institutions in the United States. So many have disappeared, others are facing huge cash problems and most are watching as donors...
View ArticlePete Seeger and the Power of Principle
Before there was a Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1972 or a Clean Air Act or Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, in the summer of 1969, Pete Seeger and his friends had launched the sloop...
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Superman Recites From The Bell Jar
"Superman Recites Selections from 'The Bell Jar' and Other Works by Sylvia Plath" from l999 is one of the video installations in the Mike Kelley exhibition which just closed at MoMA PS1. Along with...
View ArticleMusic and Trauma
What is the appropriate response to trauma? Today, January 31, 2014, we learned of the death of Riz Ortolani, a composer whose name was unknown to me. He composed film scores -- and who knows what...
View ArticleMusic and Trauma
On January 23, 2014, we learned of the death of Riz Ortolani, a composer whose name was unknown to me. He composed film scores-and who knows what other music he left behind? Most people in America do...
View ArticlePhilip Seymour Hoffman: It Feels Like a Death in the Family
I never met Philip Seymour Hoffman, though I know people who knew him. But since right before the Super Bowl when I first heard of his tragic death from a reported drug OD at 46 years old in an...
View ArticleJohn Butler -- The Lost Interview
From his early days busking in the streets of Australia to currently headlining shows around the globe, John Butler has evolved as a guitar player, singer, songwriter and human being. Whether backed by...
View ArticleMust-see Painting Shows: February 2014
There are more than two dozen New American Paintings alumni on view this month, and some of our favorites are among them. Molly Zuckerman-Hartung opens a show of new work at Corbett vs. Dempsey in...
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